It's a Frog's Life
by Aramintas world
Summary: This is what happens when Ethel tries to get her own back by turning Mildred into a frog.   While hopping around in a daze Mildred learns a secret, from none other than Miss Hardbroom. Being a frog, has its uses. Que utter chaos.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: This chapter features a lot of original dialogue and scenery from the episode 'It's a frog's life' to set the scene. I loved this episode and wanted to write my own version. This is what I came up with. PM's and reviews welcome. **

Chapter 1

The second years were lined up in rows of four in the courtyard of Cackle's, each with a broom hovering patiently and horizontally before them, well all bar Ruby Cherrytree's.

"Not at a rakish angle ruby cherrytree, it isn't a hat." Miss Hardbroom chastised her student in mild displeasure at the sight of the jaunty angle of her broom.

"Sorry Miss Hardbroom," Ruby replied merrily, not sorry at all, slowly bringing the broom down until it was level with a twitch of her fingers.

"That's better," Miss Hardbroom said, evidently glad to see that symmetry had been restored. Next she promptly instructed the class to make their cats perch on the brush end of the broom. They set about doing it immediately, it didn't do to keep HB waiting.

Mildred had been dreading cat training class. Now she remembered why. She looked to her left to see Ethel's jet black cat sitting perfectly still on her hovering, intact, broomstick. Mildred felt a spark of frustration shoot through her brain, blowing her concentration, and daresay a few other circuits as well on route.

Ethel had once again, seeing as she had nothing better to do, been winding Mildred up, claiming some ridiculous story about her leading her sister astray. Mildred finally snapped.

"I think she's a bit of a weed,"

Mildred snapped in whispered fury at Ethel. Ethel glared down her nose, for the first time allowing her hat to point straight up in the air, rather than its usual backwards lean that came with her snobbery.

"Weed, nobody calls a member of my family a weed," Ethel retorted with equal vehemence, ever quick to defend her families honour, not, Mildred noted, her sisters.

"Just stop it Ethel, I'm not going to get into a fight with you over some silly little first year, whether she's your sister or not," Mildred cried out with a mixture of agitation, exasperation and desperation, this was not what she needed with Miss Hardbroom patrolling the ranks of the class.

"I won't forget this, no one insults my family and gets away with it," Ethel shot back at her, sensing her prey was weakening.

Before either could utter another syllable, Maud, who had been listening to the whole argument from Mildred's other side, intervened,

"hey, you two," she called imploring them to stop, casting an obvious glance over her shoulder to where HB was checking a cat's posture on the back row.

"Just lay off," said Mildred as loud as she dared, "all Hallows are weeds, weeds, uaaah,"

Tabby fell from the battered banana broom that Mildred had been trying to force it sit on for the last few minutes, making an annoyed REOOOOOOW sound as he landed on the flagstones below.

HB turned on her heel and strode briskly to the source of the commotion, already sure of the culprit without needing to lay eyes on the cat, drawing level with Ethel.

"Mildred Hubble," she shouted in her usual emotionless, monotonal voice, for at least the fifth time that week, "how many terms have you been training that animal," her glare of rage prompted no immediate response from Mildred, who by now knew better than to interrupt the deputy mid flow.

Mildred waited for a second until she was sure HB had stopped for an apology.

"Sorry Miss Hardbroom," she stammered as she slumped forward slightly, mainly to express her sorrow to HB, but partly to accommodate Tabby now curled up in her arms.

Miss Hardbroom's posture was as perfect and straight as ever as she cast her eye over the shambles that was Mildred. Lifting her head high, and ignoring the slight snigger from Ruby at the fact that she now almost rivalled Ethel in terms of haughtiness, she continued to vent her frustration on the girl before her.

"None of the other's seem to find it so difficult to sit on their brooms, it's not as if they're being asked to do an aerobatic display Mildred," her voice lifted slightly in mild delight at reminding Mildred how inferior to the others she was, being the only student possessing a non witch background, especially in front of her favourite student; Ethel Hallow.

"No Miss Hardbroom," Mildred rattled off hastily, hugging Tabby to her chest for some comfort.

"That creature is not fit to be seen until it is better behaved; now I suggest you take it to your room and work with it alone for the rest of the session,"

Mildred hung her head dejectedly and murmured, "Yes Miss Hardbroom," her misery tugging down the corners of her mouth and pinching her eyebrows together.

"honestly, it's a disgrace to the Academy," HB added unnecessarily to reinforce her point, not to mention to once again air her views about Mildred in general in front of the rest of the class.

And with that she resumed barking orders at the rest of the second years, while Mildred picked up her broom and made her way sourly past Ethel.

"I won't forget about this," Ethel said in an almost whiny voice as Mildred passed her. Mildred couldn't even summon the energy to do any more arguing; instead all she managed was a deep melancholy sigh.

Ethel smiled smugly, turning her nose up as far as it would go without attracting attention. Maud glared daggers at Ethel but held her tongue, realising it wasn't worth retaliating in front of HB, instead she praised her cat loudly as it walked the length of her broom with all the grace and elegance of a panther.

She would get Ethel back later.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: This one's just a short chapter that unlike the original, reveals the mysterious spell caster, next time will be her actual frog experiences.**

Chapter 2

After making her lonely way back through the castle Mildred finally reached her only sanctuary, her room. She had gone straight there, pausing only to listen to Fenny and Gris chanting with Miss Bat; the eccentric witch's antics doing little to improve her terrible sadness. Slipping the cloak from her shoulders she hung it on the back of the door from a small metal hook.

"oh Tabby, you do make life hard for me," she told the cat lovingly, not wishing for even a moment that she had any other feline for a friend, just for this one to be more obedient.

The wind whistled through the open window as she perched, cross- legged on her icy iron bed, Tabby purring as she stroked his neck and ears.

She yawned widely, the pillow suddenly looking very attractive to the tired witch, then still clutching Tabby, she lay down on the lumpy mattress and let the sound of Blinky and Nod chattering lull her to sleep.

The bell rang for the end of the lesson and most of the class filed back into the draughty castle, far from pleased by the prospect of potions next, having hastily left their brooms in the broom shed.

Mildred however carried on with her slumber, blissfully and completely unaware of the chaotic world around her, a little smile twitching the corners of her mouth as she dreamt.

Quite unexpectedly her door opened, making its familiar complaining creak as it swung inwards, causing the ivy in the pane less window to rustle in the through draft.

A robed figure drew level with the sideboard and looked at the figure of Mildred as she slept peacefully. A few loose strands of ebony hair rose and fell rhythmically with her breathing, proving that not only had she been that way for some time, but that her hair was as untidy and rebellious as ever. No matter how hard she tried, it never remained in place as perfectly as Miss Hardbroom's did, regardless of cajoling and even daresay, magic.

Clutched between the index finger and thumb of the figure's left had was a few fairly fresh strands of pond weed that were slimy and cool to the touch. They lifted the plant from their side to their face and smiled, pleased with themselves for coming up with such a brilliant idea.

Drusilla hastily stuck her head through the door and whispered hurriedly, "hurry up Ethel, we'll be late for potions, and you know what HB's like," she implored Ethel with her voice to come quickly. Ethel didn't even bother to turn round,

"You go on ahead then Drusilla if you're that afraid of HB, I'll be there in a minute," she shooed Drusilla with a cold tone that could rival Miss Hardbroom's. Drusilla ignored the remark as she was often forced to do with her only friend, and hurried away down to the labs, leaving Ethel alone.

Turning back to Mildred she stuck her nose up in the air, despite the obvious lack of an audience, and spoke in a dry, frosty voice, "Looks like you're the one who's a weed Mildred Hubble, no one insults my family and gets away with it. I'll wipe that silly smile off your face, just you wait and see."

She placed the weeds on Mildred's pillow with a slight flourish, just as the girl murmured in her sleep. Ethel froze. When she was confident that Mildred was definitely still sleeping she began to chant, annunciating the words carefully and slowly so as not to make a mistake.

She kept her voice down so as not to wake her prey; it wouldn't do to have Mildred running to Miss Hardbroom now would it, 'not that' thought Ethel with relish, 'she would probably believe her anyway,' It was a well known fact after all that HB hardly ever believed Mildred.

Circling her hands over Mildred's sleeping form she finished the incantation with an overriding feeling of immense satisfaction.

Now Mildred was going to pay.

'


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Another short chapter, this one is Mildred turning into a frog. Again a lot of original dialogue and scenery.**

Chapter 3

When Mildred finally stirred, potions was well under way and she was well and truly late. A strong stream of sunlight poured like liquid gold through the still open window, causing shadows, and a few bats, to scuttle to the corners of the room in fear of its power.

Blinking blearily Mildred felt the warmth caressing her skin, finding it both pleasant and uncomfortable at the same time. Then she witnessed the most peculiar sight of her life. Before her sat a giant tabby cat that was slightly stretched out of proportion around the edges, like in a mirror at one of the fairgrounds she had visited as a child.

'hallo, Tabby. What's happening here?' she mused, her groggy brain slowly firing up as she did so,

"What's going on Tabbs? Oh?" she stopped, shocked by the high pitched sound that had emitted from her mouth,

"What's happened to my voice," she thought back and found it reminded her strongly of the time she had managed to concoct a voice changing potion correctly, making her wonder if she had been mixing potions in her sleep again.

It sounded, "utterly absurd" as Miss Hardbroom had put it when she had tried to explain, but it had happened once before when she had been stressed about a potions practical, only then she had woken up in the lab to find herself sitting at her desk with an angrily hissing cauldron, in competition with an angrily hissing Miss Hardbroom.

That was not a pleasant memory, and she blocked it from her mind.

The giant cat mewed and leapt from the bed, landing on the floor with a soft _thump_ and padding over to the corner to hide,

"Tabby don't be," she stopped, 'am I ill?' she questioned herself, ' goodness I've never felt like this before,' she glanced rapidly around the room, trying to reassure herself that she was actually awake, and not in fact dozing off in potions. No she defiantly was awake; yet she felt peculiar. Not ill but not quite right either.

She went to move and found herself flying through the air to land further along her mattress, 'WAHHH, Cricky! Where did I learn to jump like this?' By now she was entertaining the idea that she had finally lost what remained of her sanity. Mustering every rational grey cell in her brain to action she tried to come up with a logical thing to do.

'Better take a look at myself.' She decided firmly, turning to face the low dresser next to the door and launching herself onto it, landing with a slight _splat_.

Clambering across the wooden surface she gazed into the surface of the small, well currently large, guilt mirror there. What she saw made her gasp in a mixture of horror and delight.

She saw a beautiful lime green frog looking back at her, with big black eyes and a cream underside,

'Huh? goodness! That's not me is it?'

The other frog blinked. "Are you me?" she croaked in her squeaky voice.

The other frog moved in sync as she moved closer to the polished surface, 'uh, this is awful,' she thought, knowing that this was an understatement if ever there was one.

Dropping to the floor with a gentle _plop_ she decided she needed to get help, she would cross the bridge of how later, when she came to it.

Tabby mewed from atop the bed, confused and bemused by what it had seen.

'It's great being able to jump so far,' she commented as she began to hop out of the slightly open doorway, 'not sure about the short arms, and knees bent in the wrong direction though.'


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: And so Mildred begins hopping round the castle, making it as far as the staff room.**

Chapter 4

Mildred hopped along the corridor, making steady progress, taking in far more than she usually did of the scenery. She noticed the many cracks and crevices that riddled the walls, threatening to undermine the stability of the castle above, inhabited by countless insects and other no doubt tasty morsels. She shuddered at the thought, fully aware that no one, even if there was someone watching her, would notice such as small movement.

Before she realised how far she had come she was outside the room Sybil Hallow occupied. The massive wooden door rising up beside her like a large brown waterfall, covered in rings that could easily have been ripples.

From the lack of vibrations on the floor she guessed nobody was in there, she figured therefore that it had to be, if not the second, then the third lesson. 'Oh God, HB's going to be furious if I'm late, but how can I make potions like this?' the question sounded absurd, but made real sense in her current situation; for how was one meant to delicately chop herbs when one only had three fingers?

Quicker than she had expected, she had passed the first year corridor and made her way down the spiral stone staircase that led to a long corridor by the staff room. The corridor was filled with the golden light that poured through the many windows that lined it, warming the stone so that it was pleasant to the touch.

Odd u-shaped shadows, from the interference of the archways that broke up the corridor into sections, created cool patches where the sun's warmth couldn't reach. Mildred jumped from the last step and made her way to one of these patches, bringing her closer to the staffroom. To her horror the door suddenly opened and out walked HB.

Xxx

Constance Hardbroom was irritated. Nothing about that day had gone right for her from the moment she had risen that morning, (and for her 'rising' meant deciding that it was no longer an ungodly hour and so it was acceptable to be wandering around the castle. Thanks to her endless supply of Wide Awake Potion, she never really slept anyway, let alone 'rose'.)

She heard the bottle chinking softly in her bag, reassuring her of its presence, as she left the comfortable depths of her favourite armchair and took out a copy of the test she was planning on setting the first years later that day.

Sensing that not all was well with her deputy, a deeply concerned Amelia Cackle called her back, just as she was about to lay her hand on the door handle, "Constance," she called firmly, seeing the younger witches immediate annoyance at being delayed further with little surprise, "is everything alright? You seem rather agitated today." As she spoke she tried to gauge the younger woman's reaction, a tricky task at the best of times, made more so by the fact that Constance's posture and facial expression were almost permanently static.

"Yes Headmistress, I am perfectly alright and also perfectly late for my lesson, so if you would excuse me I do not wish to waste any more time." She replied, as cold and as guarded as ever, raising her chin in the air as she did so in obvious irritation. Before any further unnecessary questions regarding her wellbeing could be uttered, she grabbed the handle, turned it sharply, and disappeared from sight.

xxx

Amelia watched her go over the rims of her angled glasses, 'still as thorny as she's always been,' she mused, remembering the past decade or so briefly before returning her attention to Miss Drill. The blonde met her gaze knowingly, both acknowledging the fact that Constance was always like that regardless of her mood.

"So, Imogen any idea what's upset Constance?" she asked casually, not expecting an answer that didn't involve Mildred in some way. Miss Drill smirked and pushed back her chair from the table, making her way over to the ancient metal water heater to pour herself another cup of tea before replying.

"Mildred still can't get that cat of hers to sit on her broomstick, I'll expect that was the start of it," she informed the less than surprised Headmistress, "then," she continued after taking a sip of the scolding liquid, "there was some incident with a cat on the broom-shed roof or something I heard her murmuring about when she came in just now." She sat down again as Miss Cackle sighed deeply, "Well it would be Mildred wouldn't it, I suspect I'll find her waiting outside my office at some point today then." Miss Drill joined in her laughter, then the pair rose from their seats and headed in separate directions.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Clacking her tongue in frustration Constance read over and over the ingredients listed for the shrinking potion. One was meant to be a red herring and yet the more she looked at the list the more she became convinced that something was wrong.

_Question 3. Which of the following ingredients do you think will be used to brew a Shrinking Potion? _

_Place them in order of use and describe correct method of addition, including notes of temperature and colour throughout. _

_One Mustard seed_

_Three stems of Bindweed_

_Five leaves of Hemlock _

_Twelve spiders eggs_

_Four cloves of garlic_

Then suddenly the mistake glared at her, almost laughing at her for failing to notice it sooner. She had put the wrong amount of Bindweed stems. It was meant to have been two stems, not three. Cursing herself under her breath, she resolved to blame Mildred for distracting her in detention the previous evening when she had been conjuring up the questions. Oh well she would just have to change it later.

Tucking the test under her arm she marched briskly along the corridor, fully aware of how late she was about to be, stopping dead in her tracks as she passed the set of stone steps Mildred was trying to hide behind.

Xxx

Mildred panicked at the sight of HB, 'oh no of all the people, better get out of here,' she frantically began to clamber up the next step before her, trying to avoid being spotted. Her long spindly fingers struggled to get a grip on the stone, worn smooth by thousands of pairs of feet that had ground the step smooth over the years.

Miss Hardbroom suddenly stopped, did a double take and peered at her, 'Oh darn it she's seen me,' she cursed silently, slipping back down to the floor below. The sound of HB's heels crescendoed as she came nearer, reverberating through the floor and sending vibrations through her sensitive legs.

Xxx

Constance could not quite believe her eyes; a frog, in the building. Stepping towards it with one hand outstretched she reached down and scooped up the little amphibian, surprised that it did not attempt to leap from her hand in escape.

Holding it up to her face she stared deep into the glassy black eyes, feeling the clammy skin pressing against the palm of her hand as it breathed rapidly, oblivious to its screams of 'Go away, please, don't you have a class to teach.'

"Well, well, well, and how did you escape eh?" she asked it, fully aware that she wasn't going to get an answer. It croaked in response, a light, airy and seemingly carefree sound, almost as if it were responding to her question.

'Don't be stupid Constance,' she berated herself for even entertaining the thought, 'frogs don't understand English, let alone talk,'

She returned her attention to the trembling animal in her fist, "School corridors are not the place for frogs." She informed it, as if the small creature were a student.

She studied it as it croaked once more. The domed eyes bored into her despondently, reminding her of two tiny black holes, dark and empty. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about that expression, as if maybe it was trying to tell her something. Then an overwhelming feeling of sadness welled up inside her as she recognised the numbness and desperation in those eyes, a look she had often paraded around with as a child before learning to hide her emotions absolutely. As the emotion fountained up inside her she felt a sudden desire to talk to someone, be with someone, enjoy their company. She toyed with the idea of heading back to the staffroom, then dismissed it angrily, 'That's it Constance, get a grip on yourself.' She snapped inwardly, subconsciously causing her brow to crease into deep furrows, something she often did when angry.

Xxx

Mildred recognised instantly the expression on her tutors face. 'She's angry, does she know it's me? Does she think I did this to myself?' as she pondered this notion another thought occurred to her, 'What if it was her, what if she did it, she turned me into this, just like she did to that first year who's now that frog in the school pond. So the story's true then, and now she's done it to me, all because Tabby misbehaved in class.'

Her mind wandered back to her room where she was sure her beloved moggy was waiting for her, 'oh Tabby, I wish you were here.'

Xxx

'Ah! I know what to do with it.' Constance thought after a few moments wondering what she could possibly do with this stray amphibian, "I think we'll just put you in here," she said, placing the struggling Mildred in the black bag she had hung in the crook of her arm as she did so. Behind her the sound of the staffroom door closing made her look up.

She turned slightly to see Amelia leaning on the wall slightly, waiting for the pain from her arthritis to pass no doubt, glancing at her periodically, visibly weighing up whether to ask again as to Constance's wellbeing.

Before Amelia could open her mouth to inquire if she was, as Constance had expected, quite alright, Constance deliberately averted her gaze from the elderly witch and strode off in her usual manner, heels clacking faster and faster as she hurried to get away from her colleague.

Xxx

"No, No!" croaked Mildred as she was dropped unceremoniously into the dark material canyon; the giant hand opening and withdrawing before she could cling on.

A strange assortment of objects greeted her at the bottom. Before she could take a proper look at them all HB was on the move and the whole bag rocked back and forth like a boat caught in a storm, tossing Mildred this way and that way as if she weighed nothing at all. 'What a horrible place.' She commented glancing skywards to see straight up Miss Hardbroom's nose, which happened to be by far her worst angle.

Fed up of the bag bumping into her, Constance moved her arm so that it stuck out att a forty degree angle from her body, steadying the rocking motion enough for Mildred to get a proper look at her surroundings.

After the motion had ceased Mildred had ended up nestled in the folds of a bright purple handkerchief, bordered with deep indigo frills, and luckily for Mildred was newly washed. The faint aroma of lavender emanated from it, permeating the atmosphere with its soothing quality, making Mildred feel rather dozy and relaxed.

Next to that, unsurprisingly, was the short, fat, navy blue bottle of Wide Awake Potion, the name clearly written on the label in fluid, loopy writing, easily recognisable as HB's. The final item in the bag was a note book. It was small, black, with the school emblem emblazoned on the front and had clearly suffered heavy usage as it was held together with an elastic band.

'So this is what HB carries around with her,' Mildred though to herself as she felt the motion slow to a near halt and heard a door open, 'we must be in the lab then,' Mildred guessed as the sound of voices died instantly under the influence of "Places girls," booming from above her.

**Next time: Mildred causes havoc in potions, no difference there then.**

.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: This time we see what potions has in store. And find that HB isn't a fan of frogs.**

Chapter 6

Maud Moonshine was never usually late. Today however she slipped in behind Miss Hardbroom praying that the teachers booming voice would disguise her hurried footsteps. Today she was lucky.

She had slipped away from the others after cat training to check on Mildred. No doubt she would be in a state; she often was when HB got mad at her for things that weren't her fault. She had gently rapped on the door to her friend's room, waiting for a hesitant reply or the scrabble of hobnail boots showing that she was home, only to hear silence. Pushing hesitantly at the wood she entered Mildred's sanctuary. "Millie? Are you here?" she called to the almost empty room.

"Reooow." Tabby mewed, winding himself around Maud's legs in greeting. "Hello Tabby, where's Millie gone eh?" she asked, bending down to stroke behind the warm ears as the cat purred softly, 'must have already left then,' she decided, straightening up and turning to go.

In the doorway she turned and scanned the room one last time, just in case she had missed something. Other than the open copy of _Second year_ _spells_ that they were studying with Miss Cackle, nothing was out of place. All was as it should be; untouched.

As she took her place in the front row Enid nudged her and whispered, "Seen Mildred? Only Ruby and Jadu say they haven't seen her." Maud cast her a look telling her they would continue the conversation later, after all Miss Hardbroom didn't approve of what she called 'unconstructive and useless conversations' in lessons; knowing HB a way would probably be found for discussing the whereabouts of Mildred to fall into either one f these categories.

While Miss Hardbroom threw the test papers and her bag on her desk, Maud glanced round at the rest of the class. Mildred definitely wasn't in her place.

Xxx

Constance had never felt so distracted. The rows of multicolour bottles on shelves around the walls cast a myriad of rainbow polygons across the bland stones, drawing her eyes in with invisible ropes. She shook her head, clearly she needed to brew some more of that Focus Potion before this lack of concentration became a real problem. She resolved that the best thing to do would be to go and gather some more ingredients at dawn, then she could kill the bud before it flowered.

A slight movement in her near vision caught her attention. Maud had raised her hand gingerly and was waving it above her head as if she swung an imaginary lasso. "yes Maud what is it?" she asked with a deliberate tone of frustration. "Please Miss Hardroom, Mildred's not here." As if to prove her point the girl rotated in her seat to look at the empty place that Mildred usually occupied. Constance tried very hard to hide the look of pleasure at her most despised student being absent; yet a slight smile creeped across her face. Addressing Maud she simply dismissed Mildred's absence as "still training her unruly animal," and watched with satisfaction as the girl bowed her head and busied herself with putting on her apron.

Turning to the blackboard she missed the quick smile Enid threw at Maud to reassure her that she had done the right thing. Picking up a rather green lump of chalk, which she was convinced had been white at the start of term, she wrote up the aim of that days rather short lesson. _Advanced Invisibility Potion._ "Potions for use in very tight corners." She informed them without turning round.

Xxx

As the aim was being written Mildred crawled out from the bag that lay abandoned on the table and observed the class from a completely new perspective. 'Wow, so this is what its like to sit at HB's desk.' She mused, ' bit isolated up here for me,'

Turning her attention back to the class she heard Enid and Maud talking in hushed, barely audible voices, "Don't think she's scarpered do you, she's done it before," Enid said, 'huh, wait a minute scarpered, they're talking about me,' she realised suddenly devoting her entire attention to catching the rest of the conversation, "no she wouldn't, I went to check on her and Tabby's still up in her room, she wouldn't leave without him,"

"so where is she then?"Maud shrugged, unable to provide an answer for once,

"Aww, where's hubble bubble..." Ethel tormented as loud as she dared, "hope she'd not in a sulk," Drusilla continued with an equally spiteful smile. Maud grabbed Enid's arm to stop her flying across the bench to tackle Ethel. Enid shot her an evil look, 'it's not worth it.' She mouthed at her friend, wondering how Enid would survive without her to keep her out of most trouble.

Enid backed down, silently fuming, muscles tensed in obvious aggression. ' oh dear Enid,' Mildred sighed, which came out as a muffled croak. "Awww." Cooed Jadu as she spotted the source of the noise,

"yes thank you Jadu." Said HB irritably as she turned from rearranging her shelves to see the frog sitting comfortably on her potion book. Replacing the bottle she had just picked up, she leant over her desk and scooped up the amphibian. Marching over to her potion cabinet she lifted the lid of a medium sized cylindrical glass jar, and dropped Mildred into it, leaving the lid next to it.

"Now you can stay in there where I can keep an eye on you, until I can find time to deal with you." She told the frog, not quite sure why she was bothering to.

Mildred however had other ideas. As the teacher walked away she tensed all the muscles in her legs, willing and praying that she had enough power within her to escape. 'Here we go' shutting her eyes, she sprang; and sailed clear out of the open jar.

Luckily Miss Hardbroom was too absorbed in Ethel and Drusilla's potion to notice that she was no longer where she had been told to stay.

Mildred surveyed the scene below from her vantage point. Now she had a bird's eye view of the whole classroom and could see that it was far too far from her current location to the nearest bench. To attempt that leap would be suicide. 'I need a platform to get down from here,' she imagined, ' that will make it a lot less dangerous,' she reassured herself.

For a few minutes she watched HB pacing back and forth along the front, then meandering through the other rows like a sinister black river. Suddenly watching the usual routine of the potions mistress gave Mildred an idea. She waited until HB passed close beneath her, exactly five minutes twenty nine seconds into her seven minute relay, to inspect Maud and Enid's progress. Seizing the chance, Mildred leapt in a graceful arc to land both softly and silently on HB's customary tight bun, without the owner even noticing.

Miss Hardbroom continued her rounds, leaving Mildred to remain comfortably unnoticed on her head until the lesson was almost finished.

"Attention girls, its time to test your potions," she stopped dea, intrinsicly aware that the class was tittering quietly, "Well, what are you all smirking at?" she asked, as her eyes rested on each individual, the giggle died on their throats and they purposely avoided her gaze, ""Well Ruby Cherrytree?" she arched one eyebrow questioningly, "come on girl spit it out, or you'll be writing out five hundred times _I will not allow myself to be distracted by unshared jokes_, now for the final time, what's funny?"

Ruby composed herself before replying, taking in three deep steadying breaths before saying, "Please Miss Hardbroom, there's a frog on your head." Miss Hardbroom's almond shaped eyes widened in horror and reached up to snatch at her hair, dislodging Mildred and causing her to slip forward over her face.

Xxx

Constance felt the cold slimy skin slide over her porcelain skin, leaving a trail in its wake, as it gripped on to her plastered back fringe.

The class exploded into hysterics as she began flapping and shrieking wildly, unable to see anything but the pinkish creamy underside of the frog obscuring her vision. Every time she moved it tugged at her hair and shoved its feet into her eyes trying to secure itself a better grip.

Finally she managed to catch the frog with one of her flailing arms, sending poor Mildred flying through the air to land on the bottle of invisibility potion that Ethel had just poured out. The flask tipped over and Mildred felt the potion being absorbed through her skin as if it was water. "Miss Hardbroom its in the potion, its disappeared." Ethel called out.

Constance wasn't listening; she was looking at Miss Bat. Quickly she recomposed herself before greeting the eccentric chanting teacher, hoping to God she hadn't just witnessed that slip of composure on her part. She was about to query as to what her colleague was doing when Miss bat smiled sweetly and said breezily, "Could use a little work, that chant Constance, it's certainly not one of your best."

Constance pursed her lips, so that they formed one thin angry red line, warning Miss Bat not to add further insult to an already humiliating injury. "I need a word with one or two of you about that chant for assembly, hope you don't mind Constance."

Clenching her fists and almost snarling Constance informed her icily that she did mind, "they can go in their own time, not my lesson time." She almost shouted the last part, causing the chanting teacher to let out a slight squeak, and hurry back to the safety of the stationary cupboard.

Constance rolled her eyes. Another bad day.

**Next time: what to do with Mildred and we meet that frog by the pond. **


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: This time we find out what Miss Cackle's been up to and see that Constance is starting to crack**

Chapter 7

Ethel wasn't used to being ignored. "Miss Hardbroom, it's in the potion." She hollered again. This time her teacher heard her and came over to investigate, "Is it Ethel, well I certainly can't see it." Ethel hung her head, "It was there a moment ago Miss Hardbroom I swear it was." Ethel whined "It disappeared when it knocked over the flask,"

Miss Hardbroom scowled, "and how do you propose it did that Ethel? Invisibility potions, if brewed correctly, only work when consumed by the user and enter the bloodstream, not by standing in it." To prove her point, she dipped her hand into the remnants of Ethel and Drusilla's potion.

Nothing happened.

Ethel's face turned a sort of puce colour. She scowled, inwardly furious about how foolish she suddenly looked, hating the feeling of humiliation that HB had just forced upon her. As she looked down something odd caught her eye, three pronged shapes were appearing in the pallet of sand used for placing hot objects. She opened her mouth, to try and claw back some of her dignity, but before she could say anything Ruby piped up.

"Please Miss Hardbroom," Utterly exhausted, HB focused with difficulty on Ruby, "yes what is it girl?" she asked wearily, acutely aware that her comfy armchair in the staffroom was calling her,

"Frog's have permeable skin," Ruby said with her scientists hat on. Constance couldn't take in the terminology and so in a mildly defeated tone said, "Meaning?"

Ruby continued her explanation, "meaning that they can absorb liquids through their skin, so it absorbed the invisibility potion directly into its bloodstream without needing to consume it." Enid, Maud and Jadu were impressed by their friends fountain of knowledge, Miss Hardbroom however was not, "Oh well there's nothing I can do with it now, we'll need to wait for it to reappear."

xxx

She stalked back over to her desk and picked up her bag, hearing the whispered call of the bottle deep within the folds of material reminded her that she needed to gather those ingredients, before she lost her sanity.

As she slung the sturdy handles over her arm the bell rang in the corridor outside and the whole class noisily began to pack up and leave for break. "Ethel Hallow." She called, Ethel raised her head shyly, "your potion was far too effective," she criticised, somewhat unfairly she realised, but she couldn't withdraw the statement now she had made it; could she?

Ethel said nothing, just nodded and carried on packing away, 'yes' Constance mused, 'that's what everyone always does, carries on as if I'm not there, they've no respect for me whatsoever,' she beat back the tears that were tentatively gathering behind her eyes, edging slowly further and further towards the exit. She was determined not to let them fall, she refused to cry over something so trivial and insignificant.

She let the void of numbness envelope her, suppressing her emotions until they returned to their tiny corner of the deepest part of her mind, burying the pain and anguish and loneliness with them.

All she had to do now was make it back to the staffroom, then she could immerse herself in the regimented nature of her paperwork, and no doubt everyone else's.

No one, much to her chagrin, seemed to fill in any of their own paperwork at Cackle's. This meant that at least four nights a week, she was up until dawn,( with the aid of a bottle of Wide Awake potion) filling out the forms for every subject taught at the academy; including her own.

The rest of the staff relied on the fact that as long as Constance was prepared to do theirs for them, it was safest to just let her get on with it; that way, they argued, not only did it get done, but it was done perfect, down to the last minute detail.

Constance didn't sigh as she entered the staffroom to find Amelia and Imogen with their ears pressed to the stationary cupboard door; no she wailed instead. "Oh for goodness sake Davina, come out of that cupboard this instant, you're an embarrassment to the Academy." At this remark a muffled shriek assaulted her ears. "Please Miss Hardbroom is that really necessary," snapped the usually calm and collected Miss Cackle. The younger woman was taken aback by the harsh tone in her superior's voice, finally tipping over the edge and into the abyss that had been threatening her all day.

xxx

_**A short while earlier –near the end of the second lesson**_

Amelia had been enjoying a nice cheesecake at Mrs Cosies' tea room when she had checked her watch. "Gracious Mrs Cosie, I'm going to be late," she leapt to her feet, her grey cardigan hooking around the arm of her chair as she did so, pulling her back down sharply. "Are you really in such a hurry Miss Cackle,?" Mrs Cosie asked, watching the witch struggling to detach her garment from the furniture, "well you know you're welcome any time." A rather flustered Miss Cackle thanked her gratefully for another wonderful cheesecake and dashed to the door, hearing the bell jangle merrily as she threw it open and hurried on her way back to the castle.

Before long a stitch throbbed painfully in her side, reminding her that exercise wasn't one of her strong points, forcing her to lean heavily on a sturdy looking oak tree. The sound of quick footfalls came to her ears, she cast her eyes about warily; who would be out in the forest at this time of day?

It wasn't long before her question was answered when a familiar voice behind her called, "Miss Cackle, what are you doing here?" whirling round Amelia was relieved to be confronted with the piercing green eyes of Miss Drill. "Oh, it's you Imogen, I was just out for a stroll that's all." The witch tried to lie. Imogen raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "A stroll Miss Cackle, so near to Cosies', I find that hard to believe."

Aware that she was failing to withstand this interrogation Amelia admitted defeat, "Alright, alright I admit, I had one cheesecake." The blonde smiled, enjoying this little game, "just the _one _cheesecake?" she emphasised the amount deliberately, raising her voice to match her disbelief. Miss Cackle briefly impersonated a guppy fish, then said hastily, "well three, but they were only small ones and we really should be getting back," braving the stitch she turned on the spot and marched away before Miss Drill could ask her any more questions.

The blonde jogged to catch up with the older woman, gaining ground quickly until they were side by side again. The castle gates were in view now and Miss Cackle felt rather relieved, not to mention rather full. "Er Miss Cackle, you know you asked me to clear out the gym stall." Imogen asked, finally getting round to asking what she had wanted to ask for the last half mile, "yes I remember that, why?" the pair slowed to a gentle walk as they re-entered the courtyard, "Well, you assigned Mildred to help me didn't you," Amelia confirmed that she had, cocking her head to the side, inviting her colleague to continue the conversation, "Well, Mildred didn't show up and no one has seen her since first lesson," Miss Cackle detected the note of concern beneath the mask of irritation in Imogen's voice. "Silly girl, doesn't do herself any favours, very well we'll ask Constance if she's seen her, she's bound to know where that girl is."

The pair resumed their faster pace and made it to the staffroom five minutes before the bell. No sooner had Amelia sat down the door burst open and in ran a hysterical Miss Bat, heading straight for the cupboard. "No Davina!" she yelled, trying to grab the poor witch before she managed to return to the comfort of her stationary; but was too late. The door shut and the lock clicked.

Both teachers exchanged glances. "We'll be lucky if we can get her out of there by half term," Miss Drill commented drily. Both of them huddled close to the door of the cupboard, listening though the glass to the string of gibberish murmurings that permeated the little window.

They could see the blurred silhouette of the chanting teacher but couldn't get to her, much to Amelia's dismay. "Wonder what's done it this time?" she said to Imogen who smirked, "the first year's inability to distinguish between plants probably, I saw them all gardening by her classroom earlier, well if moving pots around could be called gardening." At that remark a loud sob followed by, "No one understands..." became audible.

"This might take some time." said Miss Cackle, resigning herself over to the fact that today's break was going to be spent coaxing Miss Bat back out into the real world. This was going to be fun.

**Next time back to the present**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: This time we are back to the present after HB has returned to the staffroom to find everyone attempting to get Miss Bat out of the cupboard.**

Chapter 8

Out of the corner of her eye Amelia saw her deputy sink into the nearest armchair, shaking slightly, and angrily brush away a single tear that had dared to fall. By now she knew better than to ask the younger witch what was wrong, she simply had to ignore her, though it went against every maternal fibre in her being not to go over and comfort the clearly distressed Constance.

"Imogen," she said, tuning her attention to the PE mistress, "I need you to go ask Mrs Tapioca for a large bowl of fruit salad, preferably with a jug of fresh cream as well." Imogen ran to fulfil the request, leaving her alone with her deputy.

Knowing that it would be a few minutes before Imogen returned, she decided to make the most of her time and ask Constance about Mildred, she hoped that would take her mind off whatever was bothering her. "Constance, you haven't seen Mildred by any chance have you?"

Constance looked up with a confused look in her eyes, as though she had just become aware of her surroundings, and opened her mouth slightly, furrowing her brow as she did so. Amelia watched the emotional drama playing out across the usually statuesque face, peering for only the second time through the tough exterior shell that Constance normally kept seamless, witnessing some of the pain and confusion she was experiencing. "Mil...dred?" she said, sounding very far away, "Mildred?"

Taking advantage of their lack of audience Miss Cackle strode over to the potions Mistress and stood behind her, gently laying her hands on her shoulders and circling them, pinching every so often to attempt to relieve the tight knots of stress that dwelled between her shoulder blades.

Xxx

Under normal circumstances Constance would not have let her guard down to the extent where she allowed someone to touch her; after all the last person who tried to caress her had been turned into a warty toad before he could even register what was happening. Today however, this physical contact was far from abhorrent; instead it felt rather comforting and pleasant. She could feel the extent to which the love and affection was being poured in to this simple action, reminding her that she wasn't alone in the world, that there was someone who cared for her. The knowledge alone that she was loved by someone made her feel warm and fuzzy deep down inside, something she rarely ever felt these days, and brought her back slowly from the cold abyss she had fallen into.

Xxx

Amelia felt the woman soften beneath her touch, the bony shoulders relaxing and slumping forward, making her lose the characteristic upright posture she had become accustomed to. Moving one hand up she subtly detached the pin that held the tight bun in place, noting that it clearly had already suffered some damage as hairs were straying all over the place, escaping their usual restraint and breaking for freedom. The ebony locks cascaded down Constance's back and hung freely around her face; just another thing that proved how much she had let her guard down. The older woman ran her fingers through the velvety strands, puzzled by the slightly slimy texture in places, giving herself over to her maternal instinct completely.

Xxx

Constance closed her eyes and let herself be swept away by the overpowering feeling of happiness that was bubbling up within her, immersing herself in it completely until she wasn't aware of anything else in the world. This was what she had been craving since that morning; or was it longer than that? Probably years she had been longing for this, yet she still couldn't bring herself to talk about the thing that was really troubling her.

Xxx

Imogen re-entered the room and paused to see Miss Cackle standing alone, and rather surprised, behind Constance's chair. The witch had dematerialised the second Imogen had laid a hand on the door, not wanting the non-witch to see her in such an uncomposed state. Amelia acted as though nothing had just happened, "Ah Imogen, you've got them," she said with renewed vigour as she saw the crystal bowl of fruit salad with a matching jug of cream. Now she was sure they would be able to lure Miss Bat out of the cupboard. "Miss Bat," Miss Drill cooed, "you'll never guess what we've got for you," a slight sniff replied, "we've got a lovely bowl of fruit salad for you, but you'll have to come out to get it," she teased, holding the bowl so that it was in full view of the window.

A high voice responded with interest, "with cream?" Davina asked, "Yes with cream Davina," Miss Cackle informed her kindly, hearing the lock click with relief as the witch emerged. Grabbing the bowl and collapsing into the nearest chair she began to ladle spoon after spoon of cream over the assorted fruit, eventually resorting to tipping the jug nearly on its head until she deemed there to be enough dairy for that particular helping. Shovelling the food into her mouth Miss Bat felt quite calm again. The other teachers watched her tucking in, mutually agreeing on how obscene the concept of eating that much was, especially given her thin figure. "Well Davina, what was it this time? The first years?" Miss Cackle asked, finally getting round to one of many questions on today's _To Ask_ list.

Davina shook her head forcefully; giving her flyaway hair even more of _a just stuck my fingers in the socket _look. "No, No, No, It was Constance, all I did was ask for a_ little_ bit of her lesson time and she turned into a positively wild animal, snarling and baring her fangs, Oh I was sure she was going to bite me." The pair exchanged a look, Davina was well known for her overacting after all, "That doesn't sound like Constance," Miss Cackle said cautiously,

"I did not snarl or bare my fangs thank you very much," Constance's voice rang out across the room a second before she actually materialised. This materialisation always caused Miss Bat mild trauma; today she let out a mild squeal and tried to make it back to the safety of her cupboard.

Imogen and Amelia grabbed her and wrestled her back into the chair before rounding on Constance. It was obvious to Amelia that the witch had returned to her room and fixed her hair, given that it was now back in its formal bun, not a hair out of place. 'That was quick.' She thought as she surveyed the woman's face.

It was like staring into a badly painted portrait; there was no life behind those eyes as there had been moments ago, instead there was just the guarded voids that signified that Constance had once again closed the gates to her soul, 'and just when I thought we were making progress,' Amelia mused, hiding her sorrow with annoyance.

"Constance, what have I told you about frightening Davina, you know how emotionally temperamental she can be," she scolded her, hating the words as she heard them, knowing how harsh they sounded. Constance simply raised her head, "Well Headmistress, if she insists on running and hiding in her cupboard every time someone upsets her, she's no different to the students, and as such I feel the need to treat her as one." The reply was cold and devoid of emotion, much as Amelia had feared it would be, she sighed, "Very well Constance, now back to some other matters at hand..."

**Next time we rejoin Mildred as she heads out into the grounds **


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: This chapter starts by backtracking a little to just after the bell has rung and the potions lesson has ended. Here Mildred makes her unglamorous exit with Miss Drill and nearly destroys the lab.**

Chapter 9

As the hubbub of voices exiting the potions lab died down into silence, you might have been led to believe that the room was empty. Well you'd have been wrong. A slight sound permeated the still atmosphere, seemingly origin-less and light as a feather.

Mildred breathed a hesitant sigh of relief; she wasn't out of the woods yet. She crawled out from her hiding place beneath the tripod that suspended Maud and Enid's cauldron, still a little unsure of her special awareness, a point immediately proved by one bent leg catching one of the loose rods. There was an almighty clang as the cauldron came crashing down onto the bench, setting off an infernal domino chain with the acidic contents that had been accidentally brewed and left there. Enid had added far too many spider's eggs to the mix, causing it to burn rather than conceal. Luckily for her they hadn't had to test it, one potion disaster had proved too much for Miss Hardbroom and she had desisted from her usual routine of making everyone drink their potions; lest anything else happen.

The acrid solution snaked its way across the desk, dissolving the wood beneath it without mercy, forcing Mildred to flee to another desk and watch the destruction unfold. Rapidly the herbs that lay abandoned on the desk began to curl and wilt, changing from vibrant green to sickly black in seconds as the liquid caressed it. Its next victims to claim were the cauldron support rods themselves, eating away at the canes until one by one they gave in, sending a second cauldron, Ethel's this time, crashing to the desk and then to the floor. Mildred panicked, something characterised in frogs by leaping back and forth aimlessly as Mildred was displaying at that moment, 'oh God, HB'll kill me if she finds out this was me,' she paused in her leaping to try and set her thoughts straight, 'well, I'll just have to make sure she doesn't find out it was me then won't I,' the rational part of her brain mused, 'after all, she's not here and she didn't see me do it,' it continued to point out.

A feeling of guilt dug its claws into her as she dropped down on to the sitting bench behind her, the glimmer of the potion spilling to the floor in a tiny stream catching her eye as she did so, 'HB'll know what to do,' she tried to reassure herself, realising that she was not sure what one got when one mixed an invisibility potion with a failed invisibility potion but hoped that it wasn't bad. The vicious fluid continued to pour from the bench above as Mildred squeezed herself through the gap under the closed door, eating into the aged floor as it did so like a crazed animal.

Out in the corridor the sounds of students enjoying their break floated in the air, filling the atmosphere with uplifting merriment and laughter, all of them completely unaware of the chaos erupting in the lab as the potion sought out more things to burn. 'Now I know why I never liked dominoes,' mused Mildred, 'it's too unpredictable.'

As she continued to dwell in her own thoughts she climbed the mountain of stairs that led back up from the depths of the castle to the inner courtyard. She stopped behind a wheelbarrow to observe Miss Bat singing a lullaby to a pot of trailing ivy, cradling it in her arms and rocking it like a baby as she did so. Just as the eccentric teacher was speaking encouraging words to a sad looking 'Busy Lizzy' with two fingers tickling the drooping head, the other members of the faculty rounded the corner.

"So where is she?" Miss Cackle said sombrely, her hands clasped in front of her in thought, "No one seems to know," answered Miss Drill, " and she didn't attend my potions class," continued Miss Hardbroom, sniffing slightly to disguise the slight smile twitching the corners of her mouth, "looks like its demotion to the first year immediately,"

"WHAT?" Mildred yelled, emitting a loud croak from her mouth as opposed to words. Miss Cackle looked around in confusion, "What was that?" she asked her colleagues, "What was what?" they replied, "That sound, tell me you heard it too," pleaded the headmistress, concerned that her hearing was at last failing her.

"Sounded like a frog to me," Davina chirped airily, ignoring the perplexed looks from the others as she rocked the sad 'Busy Lizzy' in her arms. "Might be that frog from the labs, I'll check my room in a minute," then reigning in the conversation to their original topic she continued, "anyway Amelia we said we would do it and we must stick to what we said," Miss Cackle cast her deputy a doubtful look. Constance, fearing that Miss Cackle was just going to give in to her students blatant disregard for discipline, continued to push her argument earnestly, " otherwise give her too much lenience and she will walk all over us, over you." She finished on what she hoped would be an emotional note. Miss Cackle still looked sceptical, "We mustn't rush into these things," she said simply, keeping Constance in her pen before she could get too much of her own way, causing the witch to let out an exasperated sigh, "Oh very well headmistress," she said in defeat.

As Constance strode away she became aware of an awful stench wafting along the corridor, a third year prank, she presumed, expecting to find Fenella and Griselda loitering around the labs looking gleeful. Nothing could prepare her for what she was about to find.

Xxx

After Constance had stormed past, Mildred decided to find a quiet place to contemplate what she had just heard _demotion to the first year_; no they couldn't do that to her, it hadn't been her fault that she couldn't help Miss Drill after all, HB must've done all this on purpose. She could see Miss Drill and Miss Cackle still conversing by the table of plants from the first year's attempt at gardening. 'I'll just hop right by them, they can't see me,' she thought wrongly, unaware that the potion was leaving her system as she hopped into plain sight of the pair.

"What's that?" Miss Drill exclaimed, spotting Mildred's head floating seemingly of its own accord, "a body- less frog's head, and it moved," Amelia moved into a position that resembled a sumo wrestler, "we'd better catch it, don't want it hopping all over the school," and with that she made a dive for Mildred.

Xxx

While the rest of the staff were chasing Mildred, Constance cautiously approached the door of her lab, the acrid smell of god knows what was sticking in her throat and making her choke. To make matters worse, she couldn't find anyone she could immediately point the finger of blame at; Fenny and Gris were nowhere to be seen. Fighting back the bile rising in her throat she tentatively pushed against the wood. The sight that greeted her nearly punched a hole in her heart; all her herbs and books were smouldering and dissolving in a bath of acid, all of her hard work from the last fifteen years was crumbling before her eyes, and soon there would be no proof it had ever existed. Firmly shutting the floodgate to prevent the onslaught of tears from escaping, she slammed the door and ran.

Due to the magical nature of potions they couldn't be removed by magic, and even if she were to restore the books and the furniture, it would be for selfish ends. No she had to get someone else to do it. The only person she could think of; Amelia Cackle.

Xxx

"GOT YOU!" Imogen cried triumphantly as she lifted the frog above her head, "Well done Imogen," an exhausted Miss Cackle congratulated her, "Now what do I do with it?" the blonde asked, holding a struggling Mildred up to her face. Waving a hand in the direction of the forest, Miss Cackle replied, "Take it to the pond, that way it won't be near enough to come back in."

A slightly flushed Miss Drill nodded her head and said to the frog, "Come on you back out we go," jogging out the front door before she had finished the sentence. Amelia watched her go fondly and sniffed, wrinkling her nose in disgust, "Ugh, what is that smell?" she turned to loom down the corridor Constance had headed down, aware of the sound of clacking heels; Constance, running, the idea seemed absurd.

"Amelia! Amelia!" the younger witch practically screamed as she flew round the corner, it having never occurred to her to dematerialise. "Constance?" Amelia asked bemused, "Whatever is the matter?"

**Next time we join Mildred at the pond and she spends her first night in the castle grounds on a lily pad**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: This is a bit of a long chapter and covers what Amelia does about the potions accident and Mildred meets the frog from the pond. Reviews and PM's welcome.**

Chapter 10

"Constance, for goodness sake what's wrong," Amelia asked, grasping Constance's arms with her bony hands to stop the witch flapping hysterically, "Disaster... my work... all my work... my lab... it's...it's terrible," Constance stammered, her voice uncharacteristically hoarse, her bottom lip trembling as she spoke.

Amelia looked deep into the reddening eyes; had the woman been crying? "What do you mean 'disaster', what's happened?" she was worried now, wondering what could possibly provoke such a reaction from her deputy, the concern filling her voice as she tried to coax an answer from the hysteric before her.

Like a shy child that was too scared to ask for something Constance tugged at Amelia's cardigan, her earnest expression pleading her to follow her. Slightly confused by this behaviour, Amelia allowed herself to be led down the corridor, all the while still trying to get a verbal response to her questions. Constance was almost running, something she hardly ever did, in her desperation to get back to her lab; maybe the faster she got there the more could be saved. As the stench became almost unbearable, they arrived at the closed door of the lab. The foul substance had begun to leak under the door now and Amelia jumped back to avoid treading in it.

"What on earth is this?" she asked in shock, throwing open the door and reeling back from the amped up smell that continued to assault them. "I didn't know what to do," Constance whispered, "I thought you might be able to do something..." then her resolve shattered completely and she broke down into hysterical sobs, curling herself up into a ball like an armadillo and pressing herself against the wall, unable to bear the sight that confronted her.

As Amelia clapped eyes on the sobbing mess at her feet, she was overrun by the desire to help her, feeling a sense of duty to remove the cause of her colleagues pain; no, she thought, her friends pain. Turning back to the wreckage that once was the potions lab; she brought to mind the spell for repairing magic induced damage, sketching in the details from memory so that when the spell was cast, the lab should bear an almost exact semblance to what it had previously been. 'Let's just hope this works,' she prayed, raising her hands to point at the chaos bound room. She knew the foster's effect wouldn't bother her, this was a selfless act after all, and restoring the labs was for the benefit of the Academy as well as her friend. Closing her eyes she recited the incantation,

"Reversus revolvus, returnus resolvus, magicas repairus, originum replicatus"

She felt the air stir as the magic did its work, opening her eyes in time to see the last remnants of the potion disappear into thin air, she had done it.

Kneeling down next to Constance she wrapped an arm round the younger witch, "It's alright, you can open your eyes now," she said softly, her words filled with kindness. Constance lifted her head hesitantly from where she had buried them in her arms and Amelia saw with a slight smile, a look of genuine surprise boldly showing thanks to the shattered mask. "How did you?" she whispered, looking from her perfect room to Miss Cackle and back again, almost as if she was following a tennis match. Amelia smiled, "just a little something I picked up when I was at Weirdsister, never thought it would come in handy though."

"Th... thank you,"

Again Miss Cackle beamed, "No Constance, thank you for having confidence in me," and with that she got steadily to her feet and extended a hand to help Constance up. it was gratefully accepted and within seconds Constance was grinning ear to ear with her posture back to its ruler straightness, "Glad to have you back Constance,"

"Good to be back headmistress,"

Xxx

The mid morning air was not altogether unpleasant as Miss Drill jogged through the forest in her running gear. The only sounds around were the chirping of the startled birds, the drumming of her feet on the leaf littered floor and Mildred's continuous croaks of protestation at this treatment. "Now, now no need to make such a racket, you'll be home soon, I don't see what all the fuss is about," Imogen chastised her with a chuckle, "must be so easy being a frog, not having to put up with Miss Hardbroom's appearing act all the time, and being made fun of for being the only non witch in the academy teaching a useless non witch subject," she spat the words bitterly at an imaginary Constance, a pained expression matching the emotions boiling inside her.

Xxx

Mildred saw the turmoil playing out across her teachers usually calm features, revealing the years of hard feelings she had harboured against her colleague in one obvious show of melancholy. Mildred's heart filled with pity and she patted Miss Drill's hand with one webbed foot, the nearest she could get in her current form to squeezing her hand, in an attempt to let the gym mistress know that someone did care for her.

Xxx

Imogen felt the action and a tiny part of her brain registered what it meant. She stopped her running and stared into the protruding black eyes, hoping she would see the answer to her problems in those two crystal balls. They stared back meaningfully, trying to convey comfort to her. Then she shook her head, "must be losing it Imogen, frogs don't talk," even as she said the words she felt they were wrong, there was something in those eyes that denoted intelligence, she was sure of it. She doubted if anyone else would believe her if she told them about this, but then again didn't people always say that animals can sense what you were feeling? Well they said that about dogs at any rate, she didn't think anyone had tested the theory on amphibians yet but hoped the same principal applied.

She resumed her running and within a few minutes came across the pond where she guessed the frog had come from. Squatting down she placed her charge on the grass by the water's edge. "Now you stay there and don't cause any more trouble," As she stood to go a feeling of sadness took her by surprise, she had become more attached to the creature than she had realised, then she heard a croak.

The frog had jumped towards her and now had its front legs resting on her shoe, as if it was begging her not to go, she bit her lip and bent down again. "Look, I can't take you back with me, it wouldn't do you any good to be stuck in that castle all day, and besides Miss Hardbroom might try one of her potions on you and you wouldn't like that," she joked, her laughter sounding high and false. Removing the frog from her trainer she got up to go for a second time; this time not looking back until she was well out of sight of the pond and almost back at the castle.

Xxx

"No, don't leave me here, come back, Miss Drill please, come back." Mildred croaked desperately as her teacher disappeared from sight, "No please." She sank back down into the grass, trying to stave off the feeling of loneliness that wanted to overcome her.

"Hello," A male voice hollered from somewhere behind her, "is someone there?" Mildred started and looked around; she couldn't see anyone so she hopped up onto a rock to get a better view. There opposite her was a large brown male frog. 'But I thought the frog in the pond was a witch, so why is this a?' before she could finish the thought the other frog spoke, "You croak in English." He exclaimed, "Er... yes," she replied, still trying to process the idea that she was talking to another frog.

"How come?" he asked her, "Well," she began, "I'm not really a frog, I've been turned into one, I'm really a witch you see," she then went on to recount what had happened to her since that morning. When she finished her explanation he chuckled, "That's funny, I'm really a wizard, but I've been this way for about forty years now," he told her with a hint of sadness in his voice, she inquired as to what happened and listened to his tale as the sun slowly sank in the western skies, casting an early twilight over the canopy covered pool.

"and because he wouldn't listen to my side of the story he turned me into a frog and they left me behind." he finished. Mildred was once again filled with pity and vowed to help him turn back, "tell you what," she said, "I'll go back to the castle tomorrow and see if I can find help, im sure I'll find a wizard somehow."

"You're very kind," he said gratefully, then suddenly remembered something he had forgot to ask, "What's your name?"

"Mildred Hubble," she replied, "What's yours?"

He thought about it for a few seconds, watching a fly lazily whizz by as he did so, "Algernon, something Webb." Mildred laughed at his forgetfulness and began to recount some of her adventures in the hopes of cheering her new friend up. After a while the pair noticed that the sun had set fully and the moon had poked its head above the canopy.

"Looks like we had better get some sleep, you'll need your strength to get back to the castle tomorrow." She agreed with him and followed his lead as he dropped down into the cold inky waters and clambered onto a lily pad. "Sleep tight." He said, "you to." She yawned and turned her thoughts to the castle, 'I wonder if anyone misses me?' she mused, before turning her attention to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: This chapter is a long one, longer than I had intended, but I hope it's not too hard to read. PM's and reviews welcome.**

Chapter 11

When Enid had finished writing out five hundred lines of _'I will endeavour not to let my cat attempt Mongolian chanting on the broom-shed in future'_ in her best handwriting, she met up with the others at the bottom of the main stairs. "Still worried about Mildred?" Jadu asked in response to the expression on her face,

"Aww, still no sign of Hubble bubble, such a shame, she's probably run away." Taunted Ethel as she pushed past, knocking Enid out of the way, Enid readied a hex to throw at her when Miss Cackle intervened. "Not fighting girls are we?" she asked with one raised eyebrow. "No Miss Cackle," they all replied in practised unison, "Well, run along to bed then and don't let Miss Hardbroom catch you."

The older witch smiled kindly as she spurred them on, sensing the worry rooted deeply in each of their heads as Ethel and Drusilla departed hastily. Just as the group was about to disappear from sight she called out to them in reassurance, "Don't worry girls, I'm sure she'll turn up, Mildred's just very good at hiding that's all." She reminded them. They nodded in subdued agreement, then continued back to their rooms.

Xxx

A gentle tap broke the silence that hung in the night air like thick fog, followed shortly by a low creak as Mildred's door swung open. Maud and Enid tip-toed into the room, taking care to make as little noise as possible, and shutting the door behind them. "Not here then." Enid said decidedly, crossing her arms in a very HB like fashion and leaning against the door. Maud crossed the room to the desk where the _Second year spells_ book lay open and picked it up; still on the same page.

"Nothing's moved, she's not come back." She flicked over a few more pages, "I hope she hasn't done anything stupid, if she has, HB'll do her nut," Maud said ominously, both knowing that that meant expulsion.

"Hey what're these?" Enid piped up, picking up the dried stems from Mildred's pillow, "are these weeds?"

"Weeds?" Maud repeated, taking the bunch from her and inspecting it, "looks like it, but why would they be here?" then a thought occurred to her, "you don't think maybe Ethel put them there as some sort of challenge do you?" Enid cast her a curious look. Upon seeing this Maud elaborated, "Weeds. That's what Mildred called Ethel's sister in cat training. She and Ethel were arguing and she said that all Hallows were weeds,"

Enid's eyes widened in horror, "you don't think Ethel's done something bad to Mildred do you?" she said adding two and two together in her mind, Maud bowed her head, "Somehow I don't think the appearance of that frog was a coincidence." Enid grasped the meaning of her words, "Well we can't do anything about it tonight, let's wait 'till morning, then we'll figure out what to do about this." And so it was decided.

After another fruitless search of the room, in the vain hope that the occupant was hidden somewhere there, the pair slipped back to their own beds; no less worried about their friend. "Oh Millie, where've you gone?" whispered Maud before turning over and extinguishing the candle beside her, inviting the darkness of the sky back in to her room.

xxx

As the rosy fingers of dawn caressed the Walls of Cackles academy, Constance was briskly striding over the marshes, gathering some of the herbs she needed for her Focus Potion. She found the clumps of Rosemary with ease and placed them in the whicker basket she had nestled in the crook of her arm. She knew she had to act quickly as the dawn light would not remain for long and she still had to gather some Lemon Balm.

Dematerialising, she reappeared in the forest surrounded by an abundance of the last gather-able ingredient. Locating a shoot that was bathed in the potent rosy light she detached the leaves from the stem and they too went into the basket. She breathed an uneasy sigh of relief, now her potion could be made, but there was nothing to say that something couldn't go wrong. She prayed to whichever deity was listening that everything would go smoothly, particularly with no interruptions from Mildred Hubble and co.

Now that her ingredients had been collected she could take a leisurely stroll back to the castle; since the incident the day before, miss cackle had agreed to do her morning duties to give her time to 'recover from shock' as she had kindly put it. Muttering a grateful thanks to the older witch she set off on the journey back to the academy.

Xxx

Mildred opened her eyes and shifted in discomfort as the light hit the sensitive retinas. She shuffled slightly to the left and plopped straight into the icy waters of the pond. 'Huh, where am I?' she thought, then she was hit by a wave of anamnesis. HB had turned her into a frog and she was now in the school pond.

There came a rustling sound from somewhere in the nearby vegetation as she quickly clambered back onto the rubbery leaf. To her amazement Miss Hardbroom emerged from the undergrowth, carrying a basket on her arm and singing to herself. 'She has a nice voice' Mildred though, realising that she had never heard HB sing before without the accompaniment of the whole school, 'maybe she's happy because I'm not there,' she thought miserably.

Xxx

Constance stopped and eyed the pond; it couldn't hurt to sit and relax a while could it? After all it wasn't like she had to be back until first lesson anyway, she could easily sneak down to the kitchen for some of Mrs Tapioca's proper food later. She smiled inwardly at the thought, feeling that she had just gained a brief insight into what it felt like to either be a normal five year old, or Mildred

Hubble.

She settled herself down in the dew soaked grass, setting her cloak down first so that she didn't get her leather dress wet, and began to toy with a reed that had fallen in her direction. She spotted he two amphibians, one sleeping, the other eying her warily. The latter amphibian plopped into the water and boldly swam across to the bank where she sat, endeavouring to climb out as hastily as possible when it arrived.

She watched it's antics until it pulled itself onto the soft earth, breathing rapidly from the effort. "Why do I get the feeling I've seen you before?" she asked it, then it struck her, "Ah yes, you're the invisible frog, glad to see you're back where you belong." She informed it. After a few moments letting her mind and eyes wander, she returned her attention to the unmoved creature.

The frog seemed to be looking expectantly at her, she put on a stern face, "I expect you want me to kiss you so you can turn back into a prince," she snorted at the fairy tale reference, "well no chance, I'll have you know that I hate men," she finished with a firm nod.

The frog cocked its head to one side as if asking her why and encouraging her to carry on, "Alright you want to know why, fine I'll tell you," she couldn't see the harm in it so she adjusted her position, drawing up her knees and hugging them to her chest, so that she was more comfortable,

"You'd better stay and listen to this, since you asked." and so she began.

"It was when I was at witch training college as despite the name it taught wizards as well. It was my first year and much to my surprise there wasn't a single rule about liaising with the boys of the college. I was studying under Mistress Broomhead's instruction," Constance shuddered as she said the name, "and she forbade me to even associate with them, threatening all sorts of horrific punishments if she so much as caught me looking at one," she rolled back the sleeves of her dress and traced a few thin silvery scars whispering, "some of which she carried out,"

Mildred felt a pang of sorrow as she spotted the fine lines; ever present reminders of her teachers clearly troubled past.

"Initially this rule didn't bother me too much," she continued, pulling the material back over the scars, "all that changed however when I met Edward, he came and sat next to me in the library one day when I was revising for one of our daily tests. I just looked up to tell whoever it was to go away and there he was, smiling like a drooling Labrador."

A dreamy look crossed her face as she spoke of him," he was a rather attractive man I must admit, even though up to that point I had only seen men as arrogant, I felt different about this one," Her features softened as she continued, "despite these feelings I knew Mistress Broomhead would kill me if she so much as heard a whisper of me being with a boy, so I sent him away," she paused, the image of his hurt face flashed before her eyes as she recalled the harsh words she had said to him, "I felt terrible afterwards and he must have known it, because he followed me back to my room that night."

She chocked slightly as the mixture of hatred and sorrow vied for the top spot on her emotional podium, "Anyway no matter what I said or did, he refused to leave so I ended up letting him in," she made a sound that resembled an angry hiss as she cursed her own stupidity, "I should never have allowed it, I should have stood up to him,"

Xxx

Mildred jumped closer to the distressed woman and began to climb up the folds of leather to perch on her knee, drawing almost level with the reddened eyes. Much to her surprise she wasn't brushed aside angrily as she had expected would happen; instead she prompted a slight smile from her potions mistress. "Strange, one would almost think you cared about what I have to say." The older woman said wearily. Mildred croaked, "I do care what you say Miss, honest I do."

Constance carried on, not wanting to interrupt the flow of words now that they had begun, especially now that she had an avid and un-judging listener. She began to describe the memory that was surfacing from the dark recesses of her mind.

Xxx

Her back was pressed against the hard wall by his arms and his beautiful blue eyes filled most of her vision. "Please stop this, if Mistress Broomhead finds out she'll kill us," she pleaded with him but her cries fell on deaf ears, "She won't find out," he said silkily, "promise," she continued to struggle but the desire to resist slowly ebbed away and a new desire took its place. She leant forward, bringing her face closer and closer to his, feeling his hot breath on her skin as she neared. Her lips opened slightly, and in a fit of uncertainty she clamped her mouth around his, hoping that this was the right thing to do. She shut her eyes and let the sensation carry her with it as his tongue explored the inside of her mouth, wrapping round hers so they danced like a pair of charmed snakes, feeling him driving her towards the bed as he did so.

Xxx

Constance opened her eyes to find she was lying on her back in the middle of the forest; clearly she had gotten a little too carried away by her thoughts. She sat up again, regaining her composure, before continuing. "I can't even begin to describe how much I wanted him at that moment, how much I wanted to share with him, love him," she whispered forlornly, fidgeting as the passionate memory of their love making made her heart flutter. "He said I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and I was caught, hook line and sinker as they say now. Only, that was where it all ended." She said bitterly, the sound of him telling her how beautiful she was ringing in her ears as she spoke. She moaned slightly and buried her head in her hands.

Xxx

The next act of her tragedy opened its curtains before her. She could feel him inside her, in the darkness of her room, feel him move over her and whisper in her ear that he didn't love her, that he had used her for this purpose only, that she meant nothing to him.

Above the sound of her heart breaking she heard the cruel high laugh of Mistress Broomhead, "you see Constance, I told you not to associate with men," the voice taunted, "when will you ever learn Constance, that everything I say and do, is for your own good, insolent child."

She screamed as the pain shot through her for the second time, forcing her to submit to her tutor as the horrific torture began. Then from the corner of her eye she saw him, standing transfixed by the powerful witch, wide eyed in terror. She turned on him, "and as for you" she snarled, flexing her middle finger, "I'll teach you to defile my property," There was a blinding flash of red light, and all that remained, was a hollow corpse.

Xxx

"I lost him." Constance whispered. "I lost him."


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: this time we get Mildred back, yay. As always PM's and reviews welcome **

Chapter 12

Constance removed the little frog from her knee with surprising gentleness, placing her on the grass by the water's edge, and rising to her maximum height. "No ones told me I was beautiful since." She whispered. Then with a swish of her black cloak she disappeared from sight into the undergrowth, leaving only the indentation in the grass to tell of her presence.

Xxx

Mildred stared into the vast empty space the woman had just occupied, unable to believe what she had just heard.

'Poor HB, no wonder she hates men so much,' she thought with a heavy heart, wanting desperately to tell the witch that she did care for her. Algernon yawned widely and shot out his long sticky tongue to catch breakfast on the wing as it lethargically flew past. "Ah what a night, I haven't slept that well in a long time, did I miss anything?" From the sound Mildred made he guessed the answer was yes but didn't press for details, he could see the look of urgency in her dark eyes and knew that her time with him was to be cut short.

"I'd better get back Algernon, there's probably a search party out for me," she sighed, "if they've even noticed I'm gone that is," she added despondently, " now, now don't say that, of course they'll have noticed you're gone," he reassured her, hopping over to land beside her, "you'd better return to the castle then so they can change you back," he unsuccessfully tried to mask the sadness in his voice as she turned to him and said.

"I won't forget you," she pressed her mouth to his face, an attempt at a goodbye kiss, slightly ruined by the skewed proportions of her new form.

"You're very kind." Algernon croaked, certain that he would have been blushing if that had been at all possible.

Xxx

Indeed Mildred was right, there was a search party looking for her.

First thing after breakfast Maud, Enid, Ruby and Jadu had been summoned to Miss Cackle's office, each as nervous as the next they huddled around the door, none of them wanting to be the first to open it to find what was in store.

"You don't think she thinks we had something to do with her disappearance do you?" Jadu asked worriedly, Enid shrugged, "We won't know until we go in," she said honestly, plucking up courage and opening the door.

Miss Cackle was seated at her desk, her head buried in her paperwork. She looked uo upon their entry and greeted them, "Ah girls, there you are, do sit down." She waved her hand and five chairs appeared. They took their places as prompted, then in unison looked at the empty chair, "Erm Miss Cackle, there's only four of us," Maud pointed out,

"hmm?" Miss Cackle hummed distractedly, "What's that?" she followed their gazes to the unoccupied seat, "Oh yes, sorry, force of habit, normally when you're here, there are five of you." She said apologetically, puffifying the remaining chair with another flick of the wrist.

"Now I suppose you're all wondering why I have called you here," she paused for them to agree, "Well, Miss Drill and I discussed the situation and agreed that you should be called in to find Mildred," The four all looked at each other incredulously, hardly able to believe their luck, "We reckoned that as her friends you would know her habits best and would therefore have the best chance of finding her." She surveyed the faces before her, grins stretching from ear to ear on each, and knew she had made the right decision, though a pang of guilt travelled through her for not letting Constance in on the decision; she had enough on her plate without worrying about Mildred. "I'm counting on you girls, bring Mildred back, take as long as you want just find her." And with these final words she dismissed them, ushering them back out into the corridor to commence their search.

Maud and Enid headed straight for the pond, Ruby and Jadu in their wake. As they walked the two recounted their suspicions to the others. "I wouldn't put it past her," Ruby said in response to their tale," Neither," Jadu agreed, "oh poor Millie."

The group arrived at the pond just as their friend was leaving it, "there it is quick grab it" Enid cried, leaping forward and ensnaring poor Mildred with her outstretched hands.

Xxx

Mildred couldn't have been happier to see her friends, "guys, oh thank god you're here, it's been awful." She croaked,

"save it for a moment Millie we can't understand you," Enid instructed her, holding the croaking animal tightly in her hands, "if indeed you are our good friend Mildred Hubble," she said sceptically, "how will we know?"

Ruby and Jadu bent down , "best way to find out is to try and change her back," the first said, "I know the reversal spell if you want me to give it a try," said the second, standing and stretching out her hands parallel before her. Maud shrugged, "Worth a try, put her on the floor then Enid, don't want her standing on your hands do you."

Enid placed the quivering frog on the grass and watched it, ready to catch it again if so much as thought of fleeing, "why is it shaking?"

"Fear, excitement, doesn't matter, just let Jadu concentrate." Ruby chastised Enid, who shut up resentfully.

"Reversus, revolvus, returnus, resolvus, ileo, aleo, redux, reducio," Jadu chanted, spreading her fingers wide over the frog. For a second nothing happened, then Mildred grew from the tiny creature back to her normal size. "Whoa it feels weird being this size again..." and that was as far as she got before four pairs of arms smothered her, hugging the life out of her ribs in a physical display of how happy they were to have her back.

For a while she recounted what had happened to her, then they explained that Ethel had done this to her and how they had finally worked it out. "So Ethel did this to me, and there I was blaming HB."

The group, now reunited, trudged back through the forest to the school gates where Miss Hardbroom waited with her arms crossed and a look of pure fury on her face. She had not been informed of Amelia's idea and what she saw convinced her that they were all in on the disappearance; probably an attention seeking device cooked up by Mildred.

"Well, well look what the cat dragged in, looks like birds of a feather really do flock together after all, and as for you Mildred I will see you and your friends in Miss Cackle's office in five minutes is that understood," she almost spat the words at Mildred who hung her head submissively and murmured in the time honoured fashion,

"Yes Miss Hardbroom."

Xxx

Constance dematerialised and reappeared in the staffroom causing Miss Bat to shriek in freight, something that never ceased to amuse her, and spoke to the exasperated Miss Cackle in a triumphant tone, "Our little runaway has been found." Amelia sighed in relief, "Well, thank god for that, where is she now?" the head enquired. "On her way to your office, with her little gang." Amelia nodded and rose from her seat, bidding the other teachers good day as she left with Constance in tow for her office.

On the way there Amelia explained her decision to ask Maud and the others to find her, only serving to heighten Miss Hardbroom's already elevated rage.

Constance slammed the door behind her and screamed, "All of you except Mildred GET OUT!" they scurried past her while she ignore the 'did you really have to do that' look from Miss Cackle.

"Mildred, I see you've decided to join us again," she said silkily. Mildred decided undoubtedly that this was her most threatening tone; she really meant business.

"Hope you've had a pleasant time, now would it be too much to ask exactly where you've been?" Constance began her interrogation, deliberately standing behind her student to intimidate her into telling the absolute truth.

"Ethel turned me into that frog and that's where I've been since yesterday, Constance felt like someone had just dropped ice cubes down the back of her dress, she suppressed the impending shudder and continued her abrasive enquiries, "Oh really, and how did she do that I wonder?" she asked, not expecting an answer,

"When I went up to my room after cat training she must have sneaked up and cast a spell on me," Mildred's voice faltered as her teacher loomed above her, "Now why would a girl like Ethel Hallow do a thing like that?" her pitch dangerously low as she asked,

"R...revenge." Mildred squeaked, trying to hold her rapidly fraying composure together.

"Mildred, you will write out five hundred times, in perfect handwriting, I must try to curb my imagination and tell the truth at all times."

"But please Miss Hardbroom I was that frog," Mildred pleaded, envisioning her time at Cackles growing shorter and shorter before her eyes, "I can prove it,"

"How?" Miss Cackle, who had been the silent observer up 'till that point, spoke up,

"I'd like to know that too, go on Mildred, prove it." She said, minimising the smug expression to a thin line,

"Yesterday morning, in potions, you were doing 'Advanced invisibility potions' and you threw me across the room when Miss Bat came in and said you needed to work on your chant as it wasn't one of your best," Mildred recalled, seeing the corner of Miss Cackle's mouth twitch into a smile at the thought of Constance being told to work on something. Miss Hardbroom however wasn't impressed,

"You could've easily found that out from anyone in the class, no that proves nothing." Constance snapped couldly. Mildred floundered then struck upon an idea, "you put me in your bag, I can tell you what you've got in it..." Mildred rattled off the list of items that had joined her in her confinement on that bumpy ride,

"again, that proves nothing other than the fact that you have the audacity to riffle through a member of staff's possessions and Mildred that only serves to strengthen our case against you."

Mildred hung her head, not ready to give up fighting and admit defeat just yet. Time for her last resort. Raising her head and drawing herself up to her full height, she fixed Miss Hardbroom with warm, compassionate eyes and said,

"You're beautiful Miss Hardbroom."

**To be continued...**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: well here we are at the end. Hope you've all enjoyed it and don't be afraid to tell me what you think of my first attempt. PM's and reviews welcome. Thanks go to the ever supportive GloriaNewt for her continuing reviews and encouragement.**

Chapter 13

"What did you say Mildred?" questioned Miss Cackle as her colleagues mouth opened and closed furiously,

"I said you're beautiful Miss Hardbroom," Mildred replied boldly holding her head up high and looking her teacher right in the eye,

" Wha... what is the meaning of this?" Miss Hardbroom managed to say, clenching her fists so hard that they shook uncontrollably.

The enraged deputy turned to Miss Cackle while still addressing her student, trying to maintain some air of control and professionalism, "do you really think making inappropriate comments is going to save you?"she uttered furiously with a hint of smugness, then she directed her attention to the person she was facing, "Headmistress, I urge you to expel her immediately, not only has she demonstrated the fact that she thinks she can come and go at will without permission, but she clearly lacks any due respect for her superiors." she got down on bended knee next to a rather bemused Amelia, "is this the image we want for our school, if this is allowed to continue then disorder and disobedience will spread through the ranks like a disease, it needs to be rooted out now if we wish to maintain discipline."

Miss Cackle appeared to consider for moment, then she asked the girl quaking before her, " Why do you say that Mildred? After all, it is clear Miss Hardbroom is not your favourite teacher, let alone your heart's desire, so then why these words of love?" her kindly expression, the complete antithesis of the woman behind her's, gave Mildred confidence to speak up. She swallowed to moisten her dry throat and opened her mouth to answer when the disgruntled potions Mistress interrupted her, "But Headmistress isn't it obvious that this is just an elaborate ruse on her part to try and win us over, clearly she thinks no such thing of me and would sooner see me dead than offer me a genuine compliment. No Amelia it's a lie, a cover for something that is nothing short of ill manners." She sounded very sure of herself as she dismissed the evident emotions as avoiding due punishment.

Mildred was about to protest when Miss Cackle saved her the trouble, "Constance I asked her not you." the stern, authoritative tone in her voice took everyone by surprise, and Constance was powerless to do anything but obey. Angrily she resumed her spectre-like stature, fixing Mildred with a cold steely glare, inwardly fuming at the cheek that her pupil was probably about to get away with.

Mildred cleared her throat again and looked at Miss Hardbroom, a steady determination blossoming in her gaze, "well, I doubt very much Miss Hardbroom would appreciate me saying this but, no one's ever called her beautiful and meant it for the right reasons before." she paused and both she and Miss Cackle looked at Constance whose slender form was now shaking slightly from head to foot.

"And how do you know that?" asked Miss Cackle, cocking her head to the side, indicating for Mildred to continue,

"Miss Cackle I really must protest I..." Constance started to say, eager to prevent any more truth being spilled by her most hated student, only to be silenced by a wave of Miss Cackles hand.

"go on." Mildred got a sense that Miss Cackle was as personally interested in what she was about to say as professionally, evidently Constance didn't hand out her life history when crossing the staffroom threshold, and her colleagues knew as little about her as the students did, this was somewhat reassuring to Mildred. She continued uneasily, quailing under the death ray stare HB had fixed on her. If looks really could kill Mildred would have been pushing up the daisies long ago; on her first day probably.

"This morning down at the pond, you told me that the last person to call you beautiful had only said so so he could get into your bed, and as a result he broke your heart. Then when you were at your most vulnerable you lost him to one of Mistress Broomhead's curses, all because she saw him taking advantage of you as violation of her property. So I thought I'd tell you that even though Mistress Broomhead tortured you for so much as looking at a man, you're still beautiful inside. It's the heart that counts Miss, not the outside, that's what makes us all special, and unique. In that way you are far more beautiful than you could ever imagine." and with that Mildred finally dissolved into tears.

Amelia looked at Constance and saw a spark in her eyes. Once again Mildred Hubble, the worst witch, had said something profound; and it had touched Amelia deeply to hear such wise words from such a young heart. Clearly the words had touched Constance too for she wept silently with a smile on her face.

"Mildred, I believe you, you really were that frog, I've never told anyone that story before I..." then words deserted her.

Miss Cackle took control of the situation, "Thank you Mildred you may go now. I will deal with Ethel Hallow later, and as for you, I am glad that no harm came to you." the old witch said softly, smiling as she spoke. Mildred turned and crossed the room in five paces, something she had done many times before, only to be stopped at the door.

"Mildred wait." Constance called after her, she halted in the doorway and looked back over her shoulder,

"Thank you." the older woman whispered, so quietly Mildred could barely hear, but she knew what she meant. She smiled broadly and departed, shutting the door behind her as she did so.

Xxx

When she had gone Amelia turned, " I'm proud of you Constance." the old witch said, her maternal pride evident in her voice.

"Whatever for Headmistress?" her confused deputy asked, "for showing emotion in front of someone, that takes courage, and I'm proud of you for it." Constance was hardly able to believe what she had heard; Miss Cackle, proud. Her heart glowed and swelled within her, ready to burst from happiness. Absentmindedly she replied, "Thank you mother," then clapped a hand over her mouth when she realised her slip of the tongue. She hoped Amelia hadn't noticed, but no such luck. The older woman turned to her incredulously; Constance tried to avoid catching her eye and stared with the utmost concentration at a fixed point on the wall.

"Constance, did you say mother?"

"No." Constance quickly denied.

"No of course, must have been my imagination." Amelia said fondly with a knowing smile; Constance was never going to change, but that was just the way she liked her.

"Oh one thing before you go," she said, seeing the arms about to fold before the woman dematerialised. Constance looked expectantly, "As you know I consider everyone at the academy to be my family, you're part or that family too Constance, you seem to have forgotten that," Constance looked baffled, "what are you trying to say Headmistress ?"

Amelia stood and drew her deputy into a tight hug, finally expressing the concern she had been felling for her junior since the potions incident, "I would never abandon you Constance, don't ever forget that I love you as much as if you were my own daughter" whispered Amelia. Constance didn't know what to say, " Headmistress I ... I" she couldn't think of anything else to say,

"I love you too." the foreign words so long denied her tumbled from her lips, gushing faster than her tears as she told her guardian angel what she meant to her.

Amelia felt the love radiating from her colleague before pulling away gently and resuming her professional role. "Now Constance, fetch Ethel Hallow for me would you, I need to see to her now."

"at once mother, i mean Headmistress."

"What was that?" Amelia called jokingly, secretly happy to finally be called mother by someone.

"I said at once Headmistress."

"Yes, thought so." she said, the pair of them beaming at each other before flushing slightly red

and laughing loudly.

At last, as she brushed away the tears, after 35 years of searching Constance Hardbroom could proudly say she had a home, with a loving, caring family. And above all, she was happy, happy and free.

**Well that's the end of my first fanfic, thanks for reading it through to the end, **


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